He’s giving ick vibes, fam
Gen Z influencers who enthusiastically supported Joe Biden in 2020 are turning against the president, reports Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post.
“If the comment section of my videos are any indication, a lot of people, especially young people, do not want to vote for Biden again,” Alaina Wood, a 25-year-old sustainability scientist and content creator, told Lorenz.
During an appearance on MSNBC last week, Lorenz outlined the main reasons why Biden is giving young TikTok celebs the ick. They’re annoyed that Biden failed to stop the TikTok ban, among other things, the 39-year-old journalist explained.
“They’re upset that he hasn’t made enough progress on climate,” Lorenz said. “Um, they’re extremely upset about the situation in Gaza, which they feel like Biden is helping to facilitate by sending weapons. Um, they’re very upset that, you know, Biden has not done anything to combat the COVID pandemic.”
Yes, you read that right. Concerned about the COVID pandemic. In 2024. Lorenz spoke to at least one Gen Z activist, Elise Joshi, who complained that Biden was “mishandling” the COVID-19 pandemic, which she described as “a crisis” that should be a “top priority” for the White House.
Lorenz attempted (without success) to provide a coherent explanation for why young voters were big mad about Biden’s refusal to support Hamas terrorists in their war against Israel. “There’s a great deal of solidarity among Gen Z, where they have a lot of, you know, feelings where they want to support each other,” she said. “And they see Biden sending all this aid to Israel and they feel like they live in a failed state, that he hasn’t—he’s not really addressing their needs.”
Solidarity. Feelings. Failed state. Got it? Lorenz went on to suggest (without evidence) that Gen Z influencers and their so-called concerns deserve to be taken seriously. “I mean, it’s an absolutely huge mistake for any political campaign to think that the internet is somehow separate from real life,” she said.
